Taking on NYC one run at a time

My Favorite Summer 2019 Hikes

If you asked me last summer if I liked hiking, I’d tell you it was okay, not my thing but I’d do it. Over the past couple of years, I’ve slowly learned to like hiking. The past year I’ve been on countless hikes. I love being outdoors and have learned to love hiking.

This summer I’ve been on over 10 hikes including the longest I’ve done (10+ miles). Here are my top 3 favorites (in ascending order):

3. Mt. Elbert, Colorado – 7+ miles

The only hike on this list I did NOT finish. Me + elevation = hot mess. At the beginning of the summer, I went to Ecuador which was my first time at elevation. Everything was hard for me. The same goes for this hike. It was hard.

But it was beautiful! I stopped after 12k feet because a) I was miserable b) I just didn’t care. It makes my favorites list not because I had fun but because it was just an accomplishment getting up as far as I did.

There are so many good hikes in this area. What makes this hike so good is the variety of views and experiences…there’s a waterfall and a bunch of ice caves that are really cool yet scary to walk through.

1. Mills Lake Hike, Rocky Mountain National Park – 4.9 miles

We almost didn’t do this hike but we actually had time to do it. Everything about this hike was gorgeous and despite the elevation it wasn’t that hard of a hike. It was worth getting caught in the rain at the end. The views throughout the hike were worth it.

Honorable mentions

Some great hikes are just a short car ride from NYC away such as….

Mount Beacon Trail – so many good views plus a fire tower. This didn’t make the list because it was so crowded for most of the hike.

Lemon Squeeze in New Paltz – there was lots of scrambling but also half of the hike was flat. The lemon squeeze part was incredibly hard but very cool. Views were incredible. This loses some points because the trail took us to the Mohonk Mountain House and we couldn’t figure out to get around it. Plus it’s a bunch of little trails that make up this trail.